Posts Tagged ‘GOA’

“Ninety-seven percent of Americans don’t live in New York City, don’t want to live in N.Y.C. and certainly don’t want a New York City mayor telling them how to live their lives,” said Erich Pratt, Director of Communications for Gun Owners of America. — New York Times, May 30, 2013

Gun Owners of America continues to battle New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is spending millions of his dollars trying to bring big city gun control to the rest of the nation.

We beat him in the U.S. Senate — for now — but his minions are still active across the country, trying to get various state legislatures to impose gun control and restrict your Second Amendment rights.

It can seem depressing when you listen to the media, hearing all the states that are pressing for more gun control in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting. But what they don’t tell you is that there are EVEN MORE states that are loosening restrictions on firearms.

Well, GOA has been involved in several of these fights, and we continue to be involved at the federal level as well. Here are just some of the ongoing, recent fights where GOA has played a role:

* GOA opposing backdoor gun control efforts at HHS. GOA alerted you last month to how the Obama administration is trying to make an end-around Congress, implementing regulations to take away people’s guns.

The “see a shrink, lose your guns” regulations published by Health and Human Services would expand the abusive practices that have disarmed 165,000 military veterans, and apply it to average citizens, as well.

* GOA pushing New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to appoint a pro-gun replacement in the U.S. Senate. In case you missed the news, the notoriously anti-gun Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) died earlier this week. So GOA is rallying the troops in the Garden State to press Governor Christie to appoint a pro-gun interim — a move that could very well stall gun control efforts in the U.S. Senate for several months.

* GOA lobbying Alaska and Missouri governors to sign nullification bills. Legislators in both states have sent bills to their respective governors which would prevent any official in the state from enforcing federal gun control laws.

In Missouri, Governor Jay Nixon has until today (June 6) to veto HB 436, or else the nullification bill becomes law in the Show Me State.

In Alaska, GOA is expectant that Governor Sean Parnell will sign House Bill 69 — which, in addition to the nullification provisions mentioned above, would prohibit the federal government from regulating firearms made and possessed wholly within the state of Alaska.

The “High Noon Award” was presented to Wisconsin’s Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke, Jr., for “standing for truth when others run, for telling the truth even though politically incorrect.”

And Sheriff Denny Peyman of Jackson County, Kentucky was presented with the “Nullifier of the Year” award by GOA for promising to not enforce any gun law that violates the Kentucky or U.S. Constitutions.

* GOA assists efforts in CO to recall anti-gun Senate President. Democrat Colorado legislators used the Sandy Hook shooting as an excuse for imposing greater gun restrictions in March. Since then, there has been a grassroots effort to hold Senate President John Morse (D) accountable — an effort which GOA has aided.

While the deadline for collecting signatures was June 3, activists were able to collect more than double the number that was needed to force a recall election. Once the signatures are certified by the Secretary of the State, then the Governor will set a date and time for the recall which will most likely take place in September.

Firearms Manufacturers Offered Rent-Free Land in Missouri

While many gun companies are now leaving Colorado because of their betrayal on gun rights, John Negri has set forth an offer that gun manufacturers may not be able to refuse.

Speaking on “America’s Voice Now” — Missouri radio program hosted by GOA member Michael Evans — Negri is making three parcels of land available at a no-charge lease for 20 years.

Negri is extending the invitation to gun manufacturers or distributors that have publicly announced they’re leaving their current state because of restrictive firearms regulations.

Interested parties, firearms manufacturers, accessory makers and distributors can contact Michael Evans at mevans@AmericasVoiceNow.org or call 417-372-0686 for more information or to obtain a package outlining the parcels available and their respective benefits and features.

“Thank you for making activism so easy! I can’t say enough how great a help it is to have the ‘contact your reps’ section on the GOA site! It makes it very easy for me to let those people in Congress know that we ARE out here and that we aren’t going away!” — MM, South Dakota

Gun Owners of America is fighting for your rights on all fronts — the political battle in Congress and in the legislatures around the country, the educational battle for the hearts and minds of Americans, and the legal battle to improve our standing in the courts.

Congress is currently on recess, and this means that now is a good time to reflect upon our recent accomplishments … together. After all, legislators will soon return, trying to limit magazine capacities, moving to confirm anti-gun judges, and trying to sneak through any kind of restriction they can in huge budget bills.

In the fog of war, it might appear like we are always on the defensive. But that’s because the media will not remind you about the victories we’ve achieved this year or the defeats the Obama administration has suffered. Sure, we’ve taken a few licks ourselves, but we’ve won a lot more battles than we’ve lost.

So as Congress gets ready to come back into session soon, get ready for the fight of your life — especially, the battle to kill gun control legislation and to get pro-gun candidates elected. And please be encouraged as you reflect on the highlights of what we’ve accomplished so far this year.

Supreme Court triumph! The year begins with a stunning victory in U.S. v. Jones, a case where Gun Owners of America filed a brief. The Supreme Court unanimously sided with GOA in finding that the placement of a Global Positioning Device on an automobile constitutes a “search” for purposes of the Fourth Amendment.

This decision will have dramatic ramifications for gun owners, as it strengthens Fourth Amendment protections which keep firearms safe from illegal “search and seizures.”

Muzzling of Gun Owners stopped. In the Congress, GOA wins a battle against efforts to “muzzle the web.” GOA hails the victory, as media outlets report that an amazing outpouring of opposition has resulted in Congress’ postponing the vote on so-called “anti-piracy” legislation.

In its final form, the legislation could have affected your ability to receive gun-related information from websites like GOA’s — allowing the Brady Campaign to shut down our GOA website and our organization (plus many other pro-gun websites) with a series of factually accurate, but legally frivolous complaints.

Spotlight on Fast & Furious. With Attorney General Eric Holder set to testify in Congress soon, Gun Owners of America fires up its grassroots network and continues calling for justice. At issue is the fact that Eric Holder oversaw Fast & Furious, an operation which put thousands of guns into the hands of Mexican drug traffickers and which resulted in hundreds of innocent deaths.

The Obama administration hoped to use the collateral damage from these firearms to demonize American gun rights and to justify additional gun restrictions in the US.

GOA addresses sheriffs. GOA Executive DirectorLarry Pratt speaks to hundreds of sheriffs, giving them many concrete examples of local interposition against out-of-control federal bureaucrats. This encouraged many sheriffs who admitted they had never even considered the authority they possess as the nation’s top elected law-enforcement officials.

Having returned from encouraging sheriffs to engage in interposition, GOA jumps into a fight to nullify the recently-enacted National Defense Authorization Act. The NDAA could impact all Americans, including gun owners, by allowing them to be indefinitely detained without trial, based on simple membership in certain pro-gun groups.

“Twenty-four hours after the Virginia State Senate nearly killed my bill, thousands of Virginians [made] their views known,” Del. Marshall said. “Groups [like] Gun Owners of America … all publicly endorsed HB 1160” — thereby, keeping the bill alive so it could eventually make its way to the governor’s desk.

GOA fighting for “constitutional carry” at the state level. Gun Owners of America fought to liberalize carry laws around the country, so that Americans can conceal firearms without getting a permit, license or permission from state bureaucrats. In South Dakota, GOA helps push a “constitutional carry” bill all the way to the governor’s desk. Sadly, Gov. Dennis Daugaard (D) vetoes the bill, and the House subsequently fails to override.

GOA speaks to college students. GOA spokesmen travelled all across the country this year speaking to legislators or to citizens at local rallies. In February, GOA Director of Communications Erich Pratt goes on the firing line in Texas, debating students on the right to keep and bear arms.

Many students say that their views were changed because of the symposium. As stated by one: “You have given me more of an interest in my rights and changed my views on how I defend myself.”

GOA on Fox Cable News. GOA Executive Director Larry Pratt goes on Fox News to debate gun rights issues with hostess, Megyn Kelly, and a representative from an anti-gun organization. Among the issues discussed was whether George Zimmerman acted in self-defense in Florida and why gun sales were spiking around the country.

GOA fighting for “constitutional carry” at the federal level. One of the big pushes in recent years has been to pass reciprocity legislation at the federal level, so that armed gun owners can travel freely from state to state. Sadly, many of the bills would not protect so-called “constitutional carry” states, where citizens can carry without getting licenses.

Late last year, the House of Representatives passed weak legislation that would NOT protect constitutional carry states. So GOA springs into action to get a no-compromise version introduced in the Senate.

GOA’s efforts pay off handsomely when Senators John Thune (R-SD) and David Vitter (R-LA) sponsor S. 2213, a bill that would allow non-licensed persons (from constitutional carry states) to tote firearms across state lines. Not only that, GOA combines a lobbying and grassroots campaign that results in Thune and Vitter getting ten times as many cosponsors as the compromise version, which was introduced by Democrat Senator Mark Begich of Alaska.

Hence, the bill that YOU lobbied for is now the 800-pound gorilla in the Senate!

GOA’s petition-drive to light a fire under Speaker Boehner. Media reports indicate that House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) may be getting cold feet when it comes to holding Attorney General Eric Holder accountable for his role in Operation Fast & Furious.

Gun Owners of America launches a petition drive to let Speaker Boehner know that millions of gun owners are behind any and all House efforts to discipline or remove Holder.

One-gun-a-month restriction bites the dust. GOA celebrates the demise of a handgun rationing law that it has fought against for roughly 20 years. It all began in the early 1990s, when GOA launched an intensive campaign to kill the one-gun-a-month proposal in Virginia.

While the rationing proposal ultimately passed, GOA’s grassroots pressure succeeded in flipping several votes in the legislature to the pro-gun side. GOA also launched an intensive campaign to punish Republicans who had voted in favor of the bill. Some were forced to retire, while others quietly flipped to the pro-gun side.

To wit: Current Gov. Bob McDonnell was one of those who initially voted for the one-gun-a-month bill, but now, has done an about-face in signing its repeal into law. GOA thanks the Virginia Citizens Defense League, the state gun rights organization which did the heavy lifting this year in mobilizing support for the law’s repeal.

GOA also launches a national petition drive asking Florida Governor Scott to resist and, if necessary, veto any legislation that would repeal the state’s Stand your Ground law allowing citizens to use deadly force to defend themselves and their loved ones.

GOA helps defeat the most anti-gun Republican in the Senate. Gun Owners of America helps defeat anti-gun Sen. Dick Lugar in Indiana’s primary. GOA’s Political Victory Fund endorsed his “A”-rated challenger, Richard Mourdock, early this year and has strongly backed his campaign ever since.

Mourdock thanked GOA, saying, “I can’t thank Gun Owners of America enough for their early support of my campaign.”

Deep-sixing anti-gun judges. GOA has rallied the grassroots to fight against many of Barack Obama’s judicial appointments. The most recent battle is still ongoing, as GOA is providing ground troop support for Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) who is currently blocking Judge Elissa Cadish from being considered by the Senate.

In the past, Judge Cadish has indicated that she doesn’t believe there is an individual right to keep and bear arms — a position which has invited the ire of the gun-owning community.

Fighting UN gun control. With the United Nations getting closer to its July deadline of wrapping up the Arms Trade Treaty, GOA steps up its attack on the gun control accord.

Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) is working to line up Senators against the ATT. Initially, only about 20 Senators are willing to sign Moran’s letter, which is addressed to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama. So GOA pledges to launch a national campaign to get Senator Moran more signatories before the deadline in July.

Efforts to nullify the NDAA in the Grand Canyon State. Similar to our efforts in Virginia, GOA lobbied to nullify the National Defense Authorization Act in Arizona. The good news is that the legislature sent the bill to Gov. Jan Brewer’s desk. The bad news? Gov. Brewer vetoed the bill.

For months, GOA has been pressing Congress to hold the Attorney General accountable for his cover-up of Fast & Furious and for his war against the Second Amendment. Given that the House Speaker is reportedly trying to postpone or delay action against Eric Holder, GOA continues to pursue other options for bringing him to justice.

GOA files suit, continues pursuing justice in Fast & Furious. In early June, the foundation of Gun Owners of America files suit in the U.S. District Court for D.C. to compel ATF to produce thousands of documents related to Operation Fast & Furious.

If the court finds in favor of the GOF complaint, the ATF will have to produce the requested documents or face “contempt of court” charges, which could result in Justice Department officials spending time in jail.

House finds Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. GOA thanks its grassroots activists for all their hard work on the heels of two key House votes on June 28, when Eric Holder is held in civil and criminal contempt of Congress.

The House leadership had been resistant to pushing a contempt citation — claiming it was a distraction during an election year. But the continual outpouring of grassroots support proved essential to countering this thinking and, ultimately, encouraging the House leadership to do the right thing.

GOA media campaign in wake of Colorado shooting. The nation reels in horror after learning that 12 people were gunned down in an Aurora theater — a so-called “gun free zone” — during the midnight showing of The Dark Night Rises.

Given that anti-gunners are now using this tragedy to push their agenda, GOA launches a media campaign to inform Americans on the truth behind guns and crime:

* GOA opinion columns and interviews appear in several outlets around the country, including US News & World Report, The Washington Times and CNN.com.

* GOA spokesmen appear on dozens of electronic media outlets, including National Public Radio and Spanish outlets like CNN Español.

Over and over, GOA emphasizes that Gun Free Zones actually embolden killers, who frequently choose these disarmament zones to perpetrate their crimes. But guns in good people’s hands often bring attempted massacres to a screeching halt.

GOA continues rallying the nation against UN gun control. GOA’s Larry Pratt appears on Fox Cable News to raise Americans’ awareness of the impending Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) that is scheduled to be completed later this month.

Plus, GOA continues pressing more Senators to sign onto Sen. Jerry Moran’s letter opposing the ATT. After a slow start, the grassroots “heat” generates a total of 50 co-signatories by the time Moran sends his letter to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Grassroots pressure kills UN treaty for the year. Media reports cite the Jerry Moran letter (mentioned above) as one of the primary reasons the administration got “cold feet” and pulled its support for the UN treaty at the last minute.

But it was the grassroots which help Moran get a treaty-killing 50 co-signatures onto the letter — and it was that number (including the fact that several Democrat Senators were on the letter) which convince the administration that pushing this gun control treaty will cost it dearly in an election year.

GOA wins three important elections. With several primaries occurring around the country on July 31, Gun Owners of America jumps behind three important candidates, all of whom win their respective run-offs or primaries: Ted Cruz for Texas Senate, Steve Stockman for House District 36 in Texas, and Rep. Paul Broun in Georgia.

If each of them wins in the general election on November 6, Congress will not be the same next year, as all three are pro-gun leaders with proven track records!

However, while the demise of the ATT is a positive outcome for U.S. gun owners, it would be a mistake to believe that it spells the end of the effort to regulate small arms worldwide.

In fact, to global gun ban supporters like Amnesty International and Oxfam America, the ATT was a success whether or not a treaty was produced.

Sure, they would rather have had the treaty pass, and they complained loudly when it was scuttled. But the fact remains that the ATT represented the most serious discussion of global gun control in history and it ensures that small arms (read: your gun collection) will be part of future negotiations.

And there will be another anti-gun treaty in the near future.

UN Secretary GeneralBan Ki-moon called the unraveling of the ATT merely a “setback,” and insiders at the UN say they expect a vote at the next session of the General Assembly later this year to restart treaty talks.

The Obama administration continues to back a treaty and has already signaled its support for an additional round of negotiations after the next presidential election.

“While we sought to conclude the month’s negotiations with a treaty, more time is a reasonable request for such a complex and critical issue,” a State Department spokesman said.

The ATT was a convenient catch-all mechanism for the many streams of arms control measures that have been flowing from UN headquarters for years. Just because the ATT was blocked does not mean that all the streams will stop flowing.

Despite what happened — or didn’t happen — this year with the ATT, the drive to ratify a treaty regulating small arms is alive and well.

While the ATT sought to regulate trade on conventional weapons such as battle tanks and battleships, it was the small arms provisions that stirred the most opposition in the U.S.

Earlier this year, GOA began working with Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) in an effort to get Senators on the record opposing the treaty.

The Moran letter warned that in requiring nations to take “appropriate measures” in furtherance of the goals of the ATT, the vaguely worded treaty “will be used to push the U.S. in the direction of measures that would infringe on both Second Amendment freedoms and the U.S.’s sovereignty more broadly.”

The fact Sen. Moran and millions of gun owners in America rallied fifty other Senators to go on the record against the treaty was a huge obstacle for the Obama administration. It put the anti-gun side well short of the 67 votes needed in the Senate to ratify a treaty, and would have left the President “owning” an unpopular, anti-gun treaty in an election year.

The President knows that he cannot get his anti-Second Amendment agenda passed through the full Congress, so he simply attempts to bypass that body whenever possible through Executive Orders, presidential directives, and international treaties.

GOA has helped to lay the groundwork to stop the UN small arms treaty. Since it first came up more than ten years ago, we have led the charge to make gun owners aware of its dangerous implications.

For now, thanks to the efforts of so many politically active supporters, we have bought some time before the next arms treaty. And that day will come. The gun grabbers know they’re running a marathon, not a sprint. They are patient and will work out a more narrowly crafted treaty that still slices away at our liberty.

But GOA, the no-compromise gun lobby, will not budge when it comes to protecting the Second Amendment from enemies at home or abroad.

“What did you send back? A form letter stating you are pro-Second Amendment — with absolutely nothing to back up this laughable claim. As Governor, you were proudly anti-Second Amendment, but as you have with most issues, you have now changed your stripes to spots.”

In this analysis, you will see his past support for all of Massachusetts’ strict gun control laws, including his support for semi-auto bans and waiting periods.

Mitt Romney said in a recent speech that he was “severely conservative” as Governor of Massachusetts. But if that’s true, then why is he steadfastly refusing to answer the Gun Owners of America questionnaire on Second Amendment issues?

GOA’s Tim Macy asks: “Do you want to clear up this possible misconception I (and most members of Gun Owners of America) have about you? If you do, then call me at (916) 984-1400. Even better, why don’t you fill out one of the THREE GOA questionnaires we’ve sent to you so that millions of American gun owners will know where you stand?”

Two pro-gun conservatives recently announced they were running against Utah Senator Orrin Hatch.

This is welcome news for gun owners. In a Senate career that has lasted more than thirty five years, Hatch has not been a particularly good friend of the Second Amendment.

During negotiations over the 1986 McClure-Volkmer Firearms Owners Protection Act — designed to protect gun owners from abuses of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms — Hatch sat at the negotiating table next to officials of the ATF and argued against the pro-gun positions of Sen. Jim McClure.

Though a senior member of the Senate, Hatch did nothing to block camels-nose legislation slammed through by Republican leader Bob Dole in the late 1980s to regulate armor-piercing bullets and outlaw non-existent “plastic guns.”

As ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1993-4, Hatch refused to filibuster the Brady Law, even though it would have been possible to kill it.

He supported the 1996 Lautenberg amendment to impose a lifetime gun ban on people guilty of “domestic misdemeanors” – a term so amorphous that it could apply to spanking your kid or engaging in a verbal argument.

In the wake of the Columbine shooting, Hatch voted for amendments which would have effectively banned gun shows, made it more difficult to keep a loaded gun in your home for self-defense, and codified the Bush-era semi-auto import ban.

This package of legislation was stopped in a conference committee only after Hatch and others were pummeled relentlessly by tens of thousands of GOA activists.

In 2007, Hatch supported the Veterans Disarmament Act—which could strip the Second Amendment rights of honorably discharged veterans who seek professional counseling following traumatic wartime experiences.

Over the following two years, while GOA was working with pro-gun Senators to repeal the gun ban in national parks, Hatch voted against repeal before voting for it in 2009.

Sen. Hatch hasn’t exactly stood up to the Obama administration, either. He voted in favor of regulatory “czar” Cass Sunstein, who favors a ban on hunting and who would grant animals legal protections in court.

And, despite repeated pleas from GOA members, he voted to confirm Eric Holder as Attorney General. In addition to being mired in the Fast and Furious scandal, Holder was the point man on gun control for President Bill Clinton and is a vocal supporter of banning many semiautomatic firearms.

Thankfully, Orrin Hatch is facing a serious challenge in this year’s Republican convention.

Former State Senator Dan Liljenquist is a stalwart pro-gun conservative who understands the dangers of compromising with the likes of President Obama.

And State Rep. Chris Herrod also jumped in the race because, he said, “we don’t have much time to fix our challenges” as a nation. Both Herrod and Liljenquist are “A” rated on gun rights issues.

The candidates will face off in the state Republican convention in April. If no candidate receives more than 60 percent of the delegate votes, the top two vote-getters will run in a June primary.

Gun Owners of America welcomes the challenge to a Senator with a long history of compromising on Second Amendment rights.

We often see in candidates the populist notion, or action that shows them to be followers of the wind. Bill Clinton being the most famous of those that rule by polls. Polls can, and are twisted by those that put the damned things together. Like statistics, they can always be manipulated to show whatever bias the pollster wishes to convey to further their position. Be that the NRA (full disclosure I am a Life Member.) or NOW.

However, answering questioneres about a subject can provide insights into a candidate. What follows is from an email from a pro gun advocacy group, NAGR, with a link following so that you may join or donate to the cause should you choose to do so.

With the Iowa caucuses just a few days behind us, and with New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada choosing their Republican candidates soon, I wanted to write to you and give you a quick update on the NAGR Presidential Survey program.

As you know, NAGR has mailed every candidate for President an official NAGR Gun Rights Survey.

Ron Paul is the only remaining Republican candidate who has returned his survey 100% in favor of gun rights.

Believe me, your calls worked. Repesentatives from each of those campaigns called NAGR offices, demanded we instruct our members and supporters to stop calling and to send them a survey.

Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry were hurt severely in Iowa because they stonewalled gun owners by refusing to return their surveys, and I think the longer that Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney ignore gun owners, the more it will hurt them as well.

Each candidate has the NAGR Presidential Survey in hand. However, we didn’t stop the calls, and we won’t. Each of the remaining candidates needs to know that gun owners have a powerful voice and we will assume that silence is a sign that they are hiding an anti-gun position.

I have serious concerns about Romney, Santorum, Gingrich and Perry. It’s their records that worry me.

Let me take a minute or two right now to remind you about the positions of the four Presidential candidates who have so far refused to return their National Association for Gun Rights Presidential Survey.

Mitt Romney:

So far Mitt Romney has refused to respond to his NAGR gun rights survey, perhaps because when Mitt Romney was Governor of ultra-liberal Massachusetts he signed a bill to ban an entire class of firearms.

Would he do the same thing — or even worse — as President of the United States? His record indicates that he would.

He even went as far as to say that he supported Massachusetts’ tough anti-gun laws: “We do have tough gun laws in Massachusetts; I support them… I won’t chip away at them; I believe they protect us and provide for our safety.”

And to throw fuel on top of Mitt Romney’s anti-gun fire, he received the endorsement of John McCain this week, who himself has recorded promotional commercials for anti-gun groups hell-bent on restricting our Second Amendment rights.

Rick Santorum:

If you’ve watched any of the Presidential debates, you’ve noticed that Rick Santorum claims time and again to be a “fighter” who has “led on conservative issues.”

Rick Santorum’s record on the Second Amendment, however, tells a different story.

In the 90s, he voted to support the Lautenberg Gun Ban, which stripped law-abiding gun owners of their Second Amendment rights for life, simply because they spanked their children or did nothing more than grab a spouses wrist.

He voted for a bill in 1999 disguised as an attempt to increase penalties on drug traffickers with guns… but it also included a provision to require federal background checks at gun shows.

In 2000, Santorum voted to force pawn shops to require a background check on anyone coming into the store to sell a firearm.

And then he voted with gun-controlling Democrats Dianne Fienstein and Frank Lautenberg to mandate locks on handguns in 2005.

But worst of all, Rick Santorum has a storied history of bailing out anti-gun Republicans facing reelection.

Rick Santorum came to anti-gun Arlen Specter’s defense in 2004 when he was down in the polls against pro-gun Republican Pat Toomey. Specter won and continued to push for gun control during his years in the Senate.

He also supported and openly campaigned for anti-gun New Jersey governor, Christine Todd Whitman.

It certainly appears that Rick Santorum has no regrets about his past anti-gun record. Worse, it appears he’d be happy to continue along this path as President.

Newt Gingrich:

For those who have followed Newt Gingrich’s career, the revelation that he talks out of both sides of his mouth won’t be a surprise.

Despite claiming to be pro-gun, Newt Gingrich’s reign as Speaker was downright hostile to our Second Amendment rights.

Newt supports the Brady National Gun Registry, a national biometric thumbprint database for gun purchasers, the Lautenberg Gun Ban and the “Criminal Safezones Act.”

“I think we prefer to go to instant check on an immediate basis and try to accelerate implementing instant checks so that you could literally check by thumbprint… Instant check is a much better system than the Brady process.” — June 27, 1997

Gingrich may claim to be pro-gun . . .

But his record indicates otherwise, and his refusal to answer his NAGR survey should give any Second Amendment supporter cause for concern.

Rick Perry:

Texas Governor Rick Perry has received an earful from NAGR members over the past several months for refusing to return his Candidate Survey.

His strategy seems to be to tell gun owners “trust me” while keeping completely silent on what he would do about our gun rights if elected President.

Over the years, gun owners have learned that this is a failed strategy.

George H.W. Bush ran as a pro-gun candidate for President in 1988, but when elected, things changed.

First, he signed an Executive Order banning the importation of so-called “assault weapons.”

Not only that, but it was under President Bush that “Operation Triggerlock,” which dramatically increased funding and power for the BATFE, was implemented.

Of course, as Governor of Texas, Rick Perry did make some minor improvements in state law for gun owners.

It is, however, one thing to act pro-gun as Governor of a state like Texas and quite another to be a pro-gun President of the United States.

Please keep up the pressure on these four Presidential candidates who continue to stonewall gun owners.

Give each campaign a call and demand the candidates return their National Association for Gun Rights Presidential Survey — at once:

Mitt Romney: 857-288-3500

Rick Santorum: 603-518-5199

Newt Gingrich: 678-973-2306

Rick Perry: 855-887-5627

You and I know that we have the most anti-gun President in the history of our country right now in the Oval Office . . .

. . . but perhaps even more dangerous would be a Republican with a proven anti-gun history cutting backroom, anti-gun deals.

“In the 35 years since its foundation, the GOA has maintained its staunch opposition to any form of gun control, often taking a harder stand than the NRA.” — Ben Garrett, award-winning journalist, newspaper editor and blogger

With your help, Gun Owners of America was able to accomplish quite a bit in 2011. We thank you for your support, which makes this e-mail and web service possible. In order to continue serving you into the next year, we hope that you will please consider either:

As we approach the Christmas holidays, we certainly have a lot to be thankful for. Here’s a partial list of what we accomplished together this year.

January

* One of the first acts of the Congress in 2011 was to read the Constitution aloud, for the first time in history, on the floor of the United States House of Representatives. Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte led the effort in the House and credited GOA for helping make it happen.

“I want to thank Gun Owners of America for early support of the idea to read the U.S. Constitution on the House floor and for taking the lead to rally the grassroots in support of the Read the Constitution effort,” Goodlatte said.

Of course, reading the Constitution is one thing, abiding by it is another. And that is a battle GOA brings to Capitol Hill on a daily basis.

*GOA began a year-long effort to call attention to Fast and Furious. This operation that was run out of the Justice Department helped criminals buy guns “legally” from American gun stores -­ with the hopes that the ensuing violence would drive calls for more gun control.

February – March

* GOA began warning its activists that anti-gun Democrats might try to attach gun control restrictions on a bill to reauthorize funding the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration). These proposals included a ban on high capacity magazines; restrictions that would end gun shows; and, potentially, a provision stripping millions of gun owners of their rights by placing them on “watch lists” without any due process of law.

GOA worked on the Hill by putting pro-gun amendments into the hands of certain Senators. Our efforts to counter these disastrous proposals with pro-gun initiatives backed the gun grabbers into a comer and stymied their plans.

*GOA and its activists won temporary victories when the House voted to repeal the anti-gun ObamaCare law and to adopt the Boren-Rehberg amendment — which would defund ATF’s latest gun registry.

Gun Owners of America contacted every member of the House of Representatives prior to winning the votes on ObamaCare and Boren-Rehberg. Sadly, both of these victories were temporary, as the Democrat Senate refused to go along.

* GOA began a national campaign to defeat restrictive legislation introduced by New York Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D). Her bill, HR 308, would resurrect the ban on high capacity magazines which passed during the Clinton administration — but later sunset in 2004. (GOA will spend the year mobilizing gun owners against this threat, and can thankfully report that, by year’s end, her bill has remained bottled up in committee.)

April-May

* After President Obama nominated Goodwin Liu to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, GOA worked hard to alert Senators to his extreme, anti-gun record. Like many radical progressives, Liu believes that while our Second Amendment rights might have been necessary in the 1700s, they are no longer needed today. Thanks, in large part, to Liu’s radical views on the Second Amendment, his nomination was narrowly defeated.

* Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) tied the Senate in knots for more than a week fighting for a GOA­backed amendment which would have protected 4473’s and other gun records from blanket searches by the ATF under the so-called PATRIOT Act.

Because many leaders in his own party refused to back him, Sen. Paul was not successful this time, but he put a marker down that gun rights would not be violated without a fight from the pro-gun community.

Sen. Paul thanked “Gun Owners of America for their strong support of my amendment to protect the privacy of gun owners.”

June – August

* GOA activated its grassroots members in opposition to S. 679, the Cover-up Protection Act — a bill that would exempt hundreds of federal appointees from Senate confirmation, thus allowing the President to stack his administration with flaming anti-gunners.

This battle underscored the power of the grassroots — and the effect that phone calls and emails can have upon their elected officials. After hearing from thousands upon thousands of GOA’s activists, Capitol Hill staffers confided to GOA that key Senators reversed course and decided to add amendments which would require the most important Presidential appointments to still be approved by the Senate.

* The crescendo over the Operation Fast and Furious debacle continued to build. Dubbed as Obama’s Watergate, Fast and Furious highlights the extent that his corrupt administration will go to demonize gun owners. GOA has spent the first half of the year educating the media and the grassroots over Fast and Furious — and for its part, CBS and Fox News lead the media in covering this fiasco.

September

* GOA began to energize its grassroots in favor of concealed carry reciprocity bill introduced by Georgia Rep. Paul Broun. His bill (HR 2900) will allow law-abiding gun owners to carry out­of-state without requiring them to possess a concealed carry permit in the state they are visiting.

*Gun Owners of America briefed an important case before the U.S. Supreme Court earlier in the year — and, in September, we won! The Court handed down its decision in Bond v. United States, where the U.S. government had made a “federal case” out of a domestic dispute involving a Pennsylvania woman who injured her neighbor.

There was absolutely no reason why the federal government should have been prosecuting Carol Bond, as opposed to the local authorities. So GOA got involved with the intent to help drive the federal government back into the parameters as outlined in the Constitution — a result which will, most definitely, benefit gun owners.

October- November

* In late October, GOA began pressing hard for congressmen to start petitioning for Eric Holder’s resignation. Within a week, the number of Representatives calling for Holder’s resignation rose to more than two dozen — and the number has since doubled to more than four dozen.

* The Obama Administration issued regulations earlier this year requiring agencies to lie to the public under certain circumstances. GOA alerted its grassroots in October to these regs and urged Congress to defund the administration’s ability to enforce them. The Administration pulled the regulations within the week.

* In November, Gun Owners Foundation won a Supreme Court case in defense of a gun owner in Virginia. Russell Ernest Smith had been wrongfully convicted of “willfully and intentionally” making a false statement on his 4473 form when purchasing a firearm. But GOF believed that the government’s argument against Smith was specious.

So Gun Owners Foundation prepared its amicus brief and submitted it on behalf of Mr. Smith. GOF was the only group making the case that Smith’s conviction should be overturned. After waiting several months for the verdict, the Virginia Supreme Court announced its verdict … and Smith emerged victorious.

What’s both interesting and exciting in this case is that, in overturning Smith’s conviction, the judges used an argument that GOF had made — an argument which his own lawyer did not even make. GOF is clearly making an impact upon the courts in defense of gun owners’ rights!

* Concealed carry reciprocity legislation passed on the floor of the House by a 272-154 vote. Representatives had two bills to choose from — although the weaker bill passed. The battle now moves to the Senate, where GOA will work to amend the legislation with the provisions of HR 2900, the “constitutional carry” friendly bill.

December

* GOA worked hard this year to stall (or defeat) the nomination of anti-gun judges. One of Obama’s picks who stalled out was Caitlin Halligan, a judicial nominee with a history of anti­gun activism. But with most of the nation focusing its attention on the upcoming holidays, GOA had to call the troops into battle after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tried to ram through Halligan’s confirmation in early December.

* The response of Gun Owners of America members to the GOA alert was overwhelming and played an important role in defeating the confirmation of Halligan. On the Hill, Gun Owners of America briefed Senate offices right up to the time of the vote about the danger of confirming Halligan. Thankfully, in a procedural maneuver known as a “cloture vote,” Reid fell six votes short of getting the needed votes to move the nomination forward for a final vote.

We have reported many times on the Brady Campaign’s rush to exploit tragedy for political gain. Since its inception as the National Council to Control Handguns over 30 years ago, the group has premised its entire agenda on this kind of exploitation for political gain, and on the notion that having more gun control laws and, therefore, fewer guns, means that crime must necessarily decrease.

Since the senseless January 8 attack on U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her innocent staff and constituents, anti-Second Amendment groups have been working overtime to exploit the tragedy to resurrect their political agendas. The Brady Campaign’s most recent, tasteless ploy may represent a new low.

There are now only two states that have no clear legal way for individuals to carry concealed firearms for self-defense. Thirty-seven states have shall-issue permit systems that make it possible for any law-abiding person to obtain a permit, while most of the others have discretionary permit systems (Vermont has never required a permit).

Deadline Nears On BATFE Shotgun Ban Comments:As we reported on Jan. 28, May 1 is the deadline for public comments concerning a shotgun importation ban that has been proposed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. A working group within the BATFE has recommended that any shotgun (semi-automatic, pump-action or any other) that has any one of 10 specific features should be banned from importation, on the grounds that such shotguns are not “generally recognized as particularly suitable for a readily adaptable to sporting purposes.”

Recently, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) — who in the early 1990s was the House sponsor of the Brady Act and the federal “assault weapons” and “large” magazine ban of 1994-2004, and the ill-fated, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink “Brady II” bill — introduced S. 436, the multi-faceted “Fix Gun Checks Act of 2011.” Its simplistic and misleading title aside, this bill dispels any doubt about the goal gun control supporters have had in mind ever since they began harping about “closing the gun show loophole” more than a decade ago.

Schumer’s “fix” bypasses the question of gun shows altogether. In fact, the term “gun show” appears nowhere in his bill. S. 436 proposes that virtually all private transfers, regardless of location, be subject to National Instant Criminal Background Check System checks. The exceptions would be extremely narrow; in many cases, even lending someone a firearm would be subject to federal regulation.

Shortly, the U.S. Senate will consider legislation to take a number of key gun-related offices in the Department of Justice and remove them from the requirement of Senate confirmation. The legislation is sponsored by anti-gun zealot Charles Schumer (D-NY) and weak-kneed Republican Lamar Alexander (R-TN).

S. 679 would give Barack Obama the ability to fill major gun-related Department of Justice slots with anti-gun partisans, without the pesky inconvenience of having to comply with the Constitution’s requirements for Senate confirmation.

Consider the following:

Barack Obama has not hesitated to load up his administration with anti-gun crazies like Regulatory Czar Cass Sunstein (who thinks hunters should be sued in court because of the pain and suffering they inflict upon animals) and Andrew Traver (the nominee to head the ATF who never met a gun control proposal he didn’t like).

If he has been willing to pack his administration with anti-gun extremists — many of whom had to pass Senate confirmation — imagine what kind of lunatics Obama could nominate if the Schumer-Alexander legislation exempted major positions from constitutional advise-and-consent requirements.

To take posts like the official who composes statistics for the Justice Department (the Director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics) and the person who represents the Justice Department before Congress (Assistant Attorney General, Legislative Affairs) and turn them into “Political hack” positions is unacceptable.

Nearly two years into his term, President Obama finally chose a director for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Mr. Obama will submit the name of Andrew Traver, the special agent in charge of the Bureau’s Chicago field division, to the Senate, the White House said. However, he will face a confirmation fight—if his nomination is not filibustered, eliminating him from consideration.

Why? He is an anti-gun zealot. This is preposterous!

I can’t—nor can most Americans—comprehend the idea of an anti-gun zealot being in charge of the ATF. Even worse, Mr. Obama appears to be waiting to appoint him during the Christmas holiday recess because he knows he will face a brutal confirmation hearing by Senate Republicans and gun-rights moderate Democrats—if not an outright boycott of his nomination…

Insiders tell me it this appointment could, and likely will, happen when no one is thinking about it. It could be the last Christmas present you unwrap on Christmas morning; or perhaps, it will be the throbbing headache you wake up with on January 1. The bottom line is this: Andrew Traver is an ENEMY of the people, like you and me, who understand the Second Amendment is the cornerstone of liberty and, without the Second Amendment right to own and bear arms, we would be no more secure, no more safe in our homes, than the least safe and least secure people in the most despotic nations on Earth. The Second Amendment is what safeguards the entire Bill of Rights. Weaken the Second Amendment and the Constitution of the United States will easily be breached.

Let me give you Andrew Traver’s philosophical resume:

He favors banning ALL gun shows.

He opposes civilian ownership of semi-automatic rifles and shotguns.

He opposes private firearm sales.

He wants the Center for Disease Control to have oversight of the firearms industry. Apparently Mr. Traver believes guns are a disease. Or, maybe it’s the gun owners he believes are diseased.

This is a DIRECT AFFRONT to those of us who own guns and use them properly and lawfully.

A frightening as it is, Mr. Obama can legally make a “recess appointment” and commission Mr. Traver is the TOP law enforcement official over the gun industry without a single Senator voting to confirm him. By confirming him on January 1, 2011, Traver would head the ATF for the balance of Obama’s term in office. Now, that’s scary, too.

The ATF hasn’t has a director for almost four years. Former director Carl Truscott’s reign was marked by numerous complaints about misappropriation of funds and poor treatment of employees. Following his resignation in 2006, the parameters were changed, and Senate confirmation is now required for a nominee.

Mr. Traver is NOT a friend of the people who whole-heartedly believe in the Second Amendment rights in the U. S. Constitution. Yes, that’s you and me!

What he is a “friend” of is the “Chicago Machine” that spawned so many of your favorite Chicago-Washington “elites” who use the word “Chicago” as a synonym for cronyism. Cronyism was voted OUT in the November elections; but the message has not yet resonated at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Obama’s anti-gun friend will head the ATF if the American people don’t stop him. That’s why you and I must STOP this recess appointment.

The bottom line: We MUST let our voices and votes be heard. Traver is obviously NOT the man to head the most powerful firearms policing agency. His ANTI-GUN BIAS illustrates a clear conflict of interest on his part and his nomination proves that Barack Obama is openly hostile to your gun rights.

Anyone as clearly hostile to the Second Amendment as Mr. Traver is, has no business being allowed to head the powerful gun licensing and regulatory agency.

The nomination of the Naperville, Illinois native to be top gun cop is applauded by gun-control activists, who say the 5,000-employee ATF has lost ground in its regulation of the $28 Billion US firearms business, having labored under interim directors since 2006.

Quite frankly, Mr. Obama has chosen a very strong, anti-Second Amendment ATF head for an administrative job that has far more influence over the practical exercise of the Second Amendment rights than any other job in the country.

In spite of our economic uncertainty, Americans spent $11 BILLION MORE in 2009 than in 2008 to buy guns, ammo, and gear, etc. In an economy that needs every dollar in retail sales from every corner of the free enterprise system, killing $11 billion more in retail sales in a failing economy is not wise, the Second Amendment notwithstanding.

There are roughly 80,000,000 gun owners in our great country who, like you, must reject this presidential appointment. So we must GET INVOLVED NOW to fax every single Member of Congress to make sure that the appointment of Andrew Traver is TOTALLY BLOCKED.

Chris Cox, NRA spokesperson said this about Andrew Travers: “You might as well put an arsonist in charge of the fire department.”

The bottom line: Andrew Traver is an anti-gun zealot. His confirmation, recess or otherwise, MUST be blocked! Mr. Traver is clearly NOT the man to head the most powerful firearms policing agency in the world. His anti-gun bias illustrates a clear conflict of interest. Please help us at this very moment to block this travesty and adverse person who is AGAINST YOU and your ownership of a gun.

We must OPPOSE this confirmation right now.

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